New Doc on the Block
by telegrammarian
Summary: Jane and Maura meet for the first time when Maura takes over for the Commonwealth's old C.M.E.
1. Chapter 1

Dr. Maura Isles carefully scrutinized the man lying face down in a puddle of blood and garbage. This was her third homicide as Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and just like the first two, she would be taking meticulous care to bring the victim the closure that he obviously never had in life.

As she examined her latest patient, Maura took in the whole picture of the man; his leather boat shoes, the factory-worn jeans, and the obviously tailored oxford shirt that had long since become entirely too saturated with blood all denoted someone who was, in life, fairly well off.

Maura was so engrossed in examining the body for preliminary evidence that she didn't hear the sound of the car pulling up at the end of the alley. She didn't notice when the door closed, and she was far too engrossed to acknowledge the sound of footsteps when they came to a halt beside her as she continued to kneel over the body, immersed in the sights and smells of the scene surrounding her.

"Hey doc, you in there?" Maura let out a hum to acknowledge the voice behind her. As she stood, she noticed a blue Crown Victoria parked at the end of the street that had not been there before, and turned to face the man waiting for an answer from her.

Korsak stood next to her, an amused smirk on his face as he watched the doctor collect herself before he continued. "You're the new C.M.E., right? Doctor…uh…"

"Maura Isles." Maura smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress before offering her hand to the detective standing before her. He took her hand and smiled as he introduced himself. "Detective Vince Korsak. A pleasure to meet you, Doc." As they shook hands, he knitted his brow and nodded toward the body.

"You have any idea who our vic is?" He asked. They both turned their attention to the reason why they were standing in the middle of an odorous alley on what was turning out to be a particularly sweltering day.

"According to the I.D. we found, the victim's name is Leonard Standie; age 26. Died of a gunshot wound to the head approximately 6 hours ago. Other injuries include a broken hand, what appears to be a shattered occipital bone (unrelated to the gunshot wound), and a dislocated shoulder. Preliminary evidence reveals a hair which does not belong to the victim and a pair of gold hoop earrings."

Maura tilted her head and took off the pair of blue gloves currently making her hands sweat in the midday heat. "I'll need to get the body back to the lab to perform further analysis before I can tell you anything more detailed than that."

Korsak nodded his approval. "Sounds good to me." He looked down at his watch and frowned a bit, then felt his phone go off in his pocket and quickly reached for it. "Korsak."

Maura turned away and looked around the body for anything else she may have missed. She studied the blood covering the ground, black and nearly congealed, pooling underneath the victim's head and chest, thick and dark as relief ink. She kneeled down once again and used a probe to pick through the pieces of skull littering the ground around the body, trying to look for something amiss among all of the detritus. She looked up again when she heard Korsak close his phone.

He smiled down at her apologetically. "My partner will be here any second. Rizzoli's going to want to see the body before you get the techs to move it." He followed Maura with his eyes as she stood up and brushed herself off once again, wrapping the probe inside her discarded gloves. "That all right with you?"

She looked up at him once again and smiled, the expression on her face congenial. "Of course, detective." She pointed to the crime scene technicians pouring through the garbage bins lining both sides of the alleyway and said, "I'll go tell CSRU to wait to move the body until your partner arrives."

Korsak watched her as she walked briskly toward the group of techs, taking in the way she was dressed, wondering if this call had interrupted a brunch date or if she was just out to impress the dead people she worked with all day. He'd heard about the newest addition to the BPD, but until today he never had any reason to go down to meet her. If this was how she dressed all the time, maybe he needed to start making reasons.

"I hope there's another dead body over there, cause if you're staring at the crime scene techs that intensely, people might start talking."

Korsak turned around at the sound of his partner's voice and smiled. "The crime scene techs aren't what I'm looking at, Rizzoli. Check out the new C.M.E." He pointed toward the woman originally blocked from Detective Rizzoli's view and chuckled when he heard her low whistle. She looked at him and asked, "Did we interrupt a date or does she dress like that to impress all the vics?"

Jane took in the sight of the woman facing away from her. Three-inch heels cradled feet that held aloft long, sculpted legs, cut short by the hem of a modest-yet-tight-fitting light grey pencil skirt which gave way to a matching blazer whose sleeves were pushed up to her forearms. Jane noted the way the C.M.E. spoke with her hands, and followed their movement as she pushed her deep honey blonde hair away from her face, which Jane was now dying to see.

Korsak laughed, jarring his partner out of her study. "You know, I was just asking myself the same thing. Maybe you should go talk to her and bring it up. I think she'd take a question like that better from you."

Jane looked over at her partner and scoffed. "Why? Because I'm a woman, or because you're a creep?" She slapped his arm and shook her head. "How about we examine this body over here instead of asking inappropriate questions to a complete stranger?" She turned her attention to the victim lying on the ground and stole a quick glance at the C.M.E. before focusing on the task at hand.

Maura finished speaking with the crime scene techs and turned around to head back to Detective Korsak, immediately taking note of a woman standing over the body at the other end of the wide alley. As she started toward the pair, Maura let her eyes wander over the form of the woman who was, she presumed, Korsak's partner. She noted the woman's clothes immediately, taking in her practical boots, her off-the-rack selection of black trousers, and the light blue three-quarter length button down which fit her body almost better than the victim's custom-tailored oxford fit him.

Maura studied her hands as they pushed back tendrils of long, dark, curly brown hair, and she smiled faintly when she saw the look of concentration mask the detective's face as she placed her hands on her hips and focused on the body in front of her.

When she was halfway down the alley, Maura saw the other woman look up toward her, and it caused her to slow her pace to a near stop. A pair of dark brown eyes found her own, and the only thing that kept Maura moving was the fact that she felt compelled to get a closer look at the detective who now seemed rooted to her own spot amidst the crime scene.

Jane watched the C.M.E. walk toward her and felt her eyes go a bit wide. The blouse underneath the blazer was a dark, rich blue, and offset her complexion as though it was made specifically for the task. She looked at the way her hips swayed underneath her skirt and felt herself cocking a half-smile as the new Medical Examiner made her way over.

Once the doctor was near enough, Jane held out her hand and tilted her head upward a bit; "You must be the new C.M.E. for us here in Boston." She felt the softness of the woman's skin against her own callouses as the two shook hands. "Detective Jane Rizzoli."

Maura smiled warmly at her and replied, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Detective. Your name precedes you; I heard quite a bit about you from Dr. Saunders before he left for Virginia. It seems he thinks very highly of you."

Jane laughed and shook her head, "The only thing that old man thought highly of was whether or not you knew what he wanted on his sandwiches, and whether or not you brought one down for him from the deli." She looked over at Korsak when she heard him laugh and smiled. "Lucky for me, he and I take ours the same way. Ours was a friendship written in the stars."

Maura smiled up at Jane and chuckled along with Korsak, losing herself the moment of easy camaraderie before she even had a chance to analyze what was happening. When she became aware of the fact that she was blending in so effortlessly with the two people in front of her, her laughter died down, but her smile remained just as wide. When Jane finally pointed to the body lying on the ground, she looked over at Maura and said, "Thanks for leaving everything as-is until I got here. Korsak could have processed the scene, but –"

Korsak scoffed. "I know how you are, Rizzoli. Don't try and feed that 'Korsak could have processed the scene' line to Dr. Isles here; she doesn't know you're full of shit yet." He laughed and dodged the hand that came flying out at his arm.

Maura looked at him, tilted her head and said, "Even though it's not always possible, I try not to upset a crime scene until all relevant parties have acquainted themselves with it to their satisfaction. As the newest addition to the BPD, it would be inadvisable for me to start off one of my first cases by angering a detective whom I expect to be working with intimately over the next several years." She smiled at Korsak and looked at Jane, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. "Since you've been with this homicide unit for several years, Detective Rizzoli, I think it's safe to say that I'll be working with you indefinitely on any number of cases, yes?"

Jane let out a breathy laugh and nodded. "I think it's pretty safe to assume, yeah." She looked down at her feet and hooked her thumbs into her trouser pockets, then back to Maura. "And call me Jane. If we're going to be working with each other indefinitely on any number of cases, we might as well skip the formalities. Takes too long anyway, wouldn't you say, Dr. Isles?"

Maura reached down for her M.E.'s bag, placing the blue gloves inside as she looked around the scene for anything she may have forgotten. After a cursory glance, she turned her attention back to Jane and said, "I think I'd have to agree. And please, Jane, call me Maura. I already know I'm a doctor. I think I could live without the professional validation from at least one person." She looked up at Jane through her lashes and, for just a moment, Jane thought she saw Maura smirk before she turned around to speak to the crime scene techs who were starting to move the body.

Jane and Korsak moved away from the victim and began to investigate the scene farther down the alley. They looked for any signs of struggle or anything out of place, a difficult task when the alley itself was a disaster area without the dead man congesting the opposite end. Jane moved over to a nearby dumpster, scanning it for any potential evidence. She nudged Korsak and motioned toward Maura, asking quietly, "Is she for real?"

Korsak shook his head. "I don't know about 'real', but she's something." He looked at Jane, smiling, and said, "I like her."

Jane laughed and retorted, "You like her ass in that skirt is what you like."

Korsak put a hand to his heart and said, "I am a man of breeding, Jane. I'm offended you would imply that I have, in any way, acted in a fashion unbecoming that of a gentleman."

Jane shoved him playfully and took a moment to look over at the doctor while Korsak turned away to continue processing the scene. She couldn't help but notice the way Maura's skirt hugged her hips and expertly displayed what had to be the best looking ass Jane had ever laid eyes on. She followed the skirt to her blazer, and trailed her eyes upward to rest on hands which were currently occupied in conversation.

Jane studied Maura's animated features as she explained something to one of the crime scene technicians currently zipping up the body. She felt a small smile forming on her lips as she followed Maura's hands to her hips. When Jane realized that the Medical Examiner was no longer speaking with the tech, she glanced up to find Maura staring directly at her. Jane's eyes grew wide as she quickly realized that she had just been caught while blatantly checking out her new colleague.

Maura cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow and rested her weight on one hip, crossing her arms loosely in front of her. She tilted her head downward slightly and appraised the woman a few yards in front of her. A slow, seductive smile spread across her face as she lowered her lashes and shook her head.

She walked toward the detective slowly, taking care to look as unassuming as possible as she observed Jane silently attempting to gather up the remainder of her professional dignity. "Is something wrong, Jane?" She asked as she uncrossed her arms and placed a hand on Jane's forearm.

Jane looked down at the hand now resting on her arm and shook her head, glancing over at Korsak briefly before looking back down at Maura. "No," She said, placing one hand on her hip in a weak display of confidence. "I was just…noticing that you talk with your hands a lot." She motioned toward Maura's hands with her own as she cringed inwardly, silently hoping that Maura let her off the hook for being so painfully obvious.

Maura smiled and removed her hand from Jane's arm to point upward at nothing in particular. "Studies show that those who speak with their hands are generally considered to be warmer, more articulate, and intelligent, while those who speak using only verbal communication tend to be viewed as somewhat cold and analytical. Body language is incredibly important when attempting to convey an idea or understand what a person is or is not saying." She let out a satisfied hum and continued.

"For instance," Maura unabashedly raked her eyes over the detective as she said in a voice meant only for the two of them to hear, "I could deduce from the way your eyes widened in surprise a few moments ago that you had no intention of ever being caught observing me in such an intimate manner." Maura's eyes met Jane's and held them in a gaze that made Jane's throat hot and her chest tight. When she felt her pupils dilating, Jane knew her blush had reached from her chest to her cheeks.

Jane didn't have time to say anything before Korsak came up beside the two women and broke the moment. He peeled off his blue gloves and looked between the two of them confusedly. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked, only half-joking.

Jane tore her eyes away from Maura's and shook her head. "No," She said quickly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her trousers. "Maura and I were just conferring on the state of the body and the cause of death." Jane looked at Maura with a silent plea in her eye, hoping that she wouldn't be called out over the fact that she had just been caught red-handed while scrutinizing every delectable inch of the woman in front of her.

Maura nodded her head slightly as she looked at Detective Korsak. "I'm headed back to the lab now to await the arrival of the body. I should have my initial report finished by the end of the day, barring any unforeseen circumstances." She looked at Jane and creased her brow worriedly. "You might want to see a doctor, Detective. Your cheeks are rather flushed."

* * *

><p>Jane stared blankly at her computer screen as she aimlessly sifted through Leonard Standie's credit report. Page after page of purchases and bills that meant absolutely nothing to the woman whose mind was currently in the basement with a woman who was most likely elbow deep in their victim's chest cavity. She leaned forward in the chair and rested her elbows on the desk, running frustrated hands through her hair as she grasped blindly for even the slightest bit of focus.<p>

After five minutes, Jane realized that the only thing she was currently able to focus on was how the doctor had nary a panty line under her skirt. She let out a loud sigh and pushed herself away from her desk, then stood up and glanced over at her partner who was currently immersed in a thick stack of papers. "I'm going down to see if Maura's finished up with the autopsy. Let me know if you find anything in that mess you're looking through now." She heard him grunt in reply as she headed out of homicide and down to the morgue.

Jane made her way to the autopsy suite, allowing the knot in her stomach to slow her steps as she reached the entrance. She looked through the plate glass door and took a moment to study the doctor as she worked over the body currently lying on her slab. She smiled softly to herself as she noted how short the Medical Examiner actually was when she was out of her high heels. Silently, Jane opened the door and walked in, careful not to disturb the woman working in front of her.

Maura looked up and smiled when she heard Jane enter the room. "Detective. Wonderful to see you again; and so soon after our last encounter." She began the Y-incision and asked, "What can I help you with?"

Jane watched the flawless execution of line as she fought for her voice. "I just wanted to, uh… apologize for before. I didn't mean to, you know…check you out at the crime scene." She shifted uncomfortably at her admission and clasped her hands together nervously. "That's never happened before, and you have my word that it will never happen again."

Maura finished the Y-incision and pulled down her face guard when she was ready to peel back the skin covering the body's chest and abdomen. She looked up at Jane through the plexiglass protector. "Don't apologize." She began to peel back the right side of the man's chest. "If you want permission to, as you put it, 'check me out', might I suggest asking me out on a date? I think we would both be far more comfortable in a setting where we could be more open with each other physically."

Jane cocked her head to the side and asked with not a small amount of incredulity lacing her voice, "Are you asking me to ask you out while you're cutting open a dead person?"

Maura stopped her actions momentarily and pushed up her facial guard with the back of her hand to look at Jane. "Perhaps you should pay attention to the words and not the setting."

Jane put her hands on her hips and shook her head as she smiled down at Maura. "So I take it to mean that if I were to ask you out, you would say yes?"

Maura narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly, releasing a ponderous hum. "I don't know, Jane. I can't give an answer to a question that has not yet been posited."

Jane pursed her lips and smiled tightly as she studied Maura, who was back to work on the body in front of her. "I'm going for coffee in a few hours. If my calculations are correct, you should be done by the time I'm feeling drained enough to need caffeine. Would you like to join me?"

Maura looked up and smiled warmly at Jane through her visor. "Jane, are you asking me out on a date?"

Jane stared at Maura over the half-skinned body. "Absolutely not." She crossed her arms and chuckled when she saw Maura's smile fade into a confused frown. "When I ask you out on a date, there won't be any dead bodies around, and you won't look like you just came out of a Gallagher Halloween special."

Maura furrowed her eyebrows and said, "I'm not sure I understand your reference."

Jane blinked in disbelief. "Gallagher? Watermelons? Huge wooden mallet?" She loosely mimed swinging a large mallet in the air as she searched Maura's face for any signs of recognition. When Maura remained silent, Jane shook her head and bit her lip. "It's like I'm speaking a foreign language here."

Maura perked up and asked, intrigued, "Do you speak a foreign language, Detective?"

"I think that's more of a date question, Maura." Jane's lips parted into a rakish smile as she backed out of the morgue, holding Maura's gaze the whole time. "Listen, call me when you get finished here and we'll go for coffee. Then maybe – _maybe _ – I'll ask you out on that date." When her back hit the door, she pushed it open and nodded to the Medical Examiner. "I'll see you later, Doctor Isles."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I figure I need to put this somewhere before some unlikely event takes place where I have to take down my story due to the lack of disclaimer. So. **Disclaimer**: R&I are not mine. I don't make profit off of this. If I did, maybe I'd make longer chapters.

Also, thanks for all the fabulous reviews, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. It's slow going (really should have warned you before), as I suffer greatly from not knowing where the hell I'm going with anything I write, so bear with me.

* * *

><p>Go hard or go home. Jane lived by those words; her entire belief system was rooted in that phrase. As she tuned out the frantic rhythm of her feet slapping against grey, cracked asphalt and focused on the figure sprinting just ahead of her, she embodied the ideal. Jane picked up her pace as she watched her suspect scale a rusted chain link fence at the end of the alley, leaping down from the top and ungracefully tucking into a roll on the other side. A second later, she was scaling the same fence, bounding over the top and landing squarely on her feet, knees relaxed as she let the ground catch her like a ball sliding into a mitt, the bite of the landing jarring her up through her bent knees as she headed off once again in a full sprint.<p>

Jane felt the unyielding pavement under her feet give way to grass as she ran across an empty lot. She yelled at the man who was now her prime suspect in the murder of Leonard Standie to freeze as he ran at full speed toward the other side of the lot. As he whipped his head back to see Jane gaining on him, he failed to see the faded plastic Disney princess tricycle right in front of him. Jane smiled as she saw him come crashing down violently, yelling out in surprise as his body pitched forward and rolled with the tricycle, then stopped abruptly, a thick cloud of dust rising just above his writhing figure. Jane slowed her run and drew her weapon, panting lightly from the exertion.

"Boston Police. Stay where you are and keep your hands where I can see them." She kicked the tricycle away from her suspect and reached for her handcuffs, keeping her gun trained on the man currently holding his right shoulder and tightly squeezing his eyes shut. She turned him over roughly and holstered her gun, pulling his hands behind his back and cuffing him.

He cried out when Jane jerked him up, getting a bit too close to the back of his head. He struggled to get away, slamming his head back against her nose. She let out a surprised yell, quickly followed by a pained "Goddamnit!" Jane used every bit of her self-control not break her suspect's face on the rocky dirt beneath him.

Instead, she shoved him back down and placed her knee in the center of his back to keep him from struggling while she gingerly pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand and contacted Korsak on her radio to tell him to meet her at the entrance to the lot. She looked down at the man underneath her and huffed. "I might not get you for murder, you son of a bitch, but assaulting a police officer? Two-and-a-half years, easy." She glanced over toward the entrance when she heard Korsak pull up. "Think your cellmates will like the story of how a princess tricycle took your bad ass down?"

Jane yanked up the man and pushed him toward the car, this time careful to avoid his head. She looked up at the sky and noticed the sun beginning to set, silently thanking the powers above that she hadn't made a solid plan with Maura. At this point, she would be would be lucky if Maura was still in the office, let alone up for coffee. With that thought, she shoved her suspect into the back of the car and headed over to the passenger's seat. Maybe she wouldn't be too late to catch Maura, but with the way her nose felt, Jane was more than likely going to look like a post-match Rocky taking out his Adrian.

* * *

><p>Maura sat at her desk and slipped on her shoes, finally out of her scrubs after finishing the autopsy of Jane's victim, plus one other that came in that day. She settled in to the chair and put in her headphones, pulling up a new report template to begin transcribing her notes from the recording device. As she listened to her voice rattle off the personal information of the victim, she tuned out the world around her and began to type. When she heard a knock at her door, she turned around to see Jane casually resting against the frame with her arms crossed loosely in front of her, a small smile on her face.<p>

Maura's welcoming smile quickly turned into a concerned frown when she noticed Jane's swollen and bruised nose. She took out her headphones and set them on the desk, keeping her eyes on the woman now walking toward her. "Jane, what happened?"

Jane leaned against the edge of the desk, leaning her head back to elevate her nose. "Had a run-in with a perp. He caught me with his freakishly solid head." She glanced down at Maura when she heard her get up out of her chair. Maura positioned herself in front of Jane, swatting her hands away from her nose as she began examining the damage. Jane hissed when Maura began feeling the area around her nose. "Not that I don't enjoy getting closer, Maura, but what are you doing?"

Maura knitted her brow as she continued examining Jane's nose. "I want to make sure your nasal bone is in tact." She smiled after a moment. "Luckily, that man's head isn't as 'freakishly solid' as you were initially led to believe. He may have bruised your bone, but he didn't manage to break anything." When she started to pull her hands away, Jane loosely looped her fingers around Maura's wrists, holding them suspended as Jane silently studied the doctor.

Maura's breath caught in her throat as she watched Jane's eyes study the lines of her face. She moved closer in to Jane, the shift almost imperceptible. Jane brought Maura's hands down beside her and started to release her, lightly caressing the inside of her wrists with her thumbs before taking Maura's right hand and bringing it to her lips. "Thank you." She said, brushing her lips over Maura's knuckles, never breaking eye contact.

Maura brought her free hand up to cover her chest, which now felt a bit overheated. She could feel a pale blush coloring her cheeks as Jane smiled over her knuckles before lowering her hand once more. "What do you say to some coffee?"

Maura parted her lips to answer, and let out a small sigh before she caught herself. She smiled at the slip and found her voice, albeit slightly deeper than usual. "I say yes."

* * *

><p>Unable to find a seat at the coffee shop, Jane and Maura made their way across the street to find a place to sit in the park. After a few minutes, the two women found a bench facing a pond and sat, sipping their coffee and looking out toward the sun as it fell behind the buildings on the other side of the water. Jane looked over at Maura and asked noncommittally, "So do you like old movies?"<p>

Maura nodded and smiled brightly. "I love classic cinema. One of my favorites as a teenager was _Les Enfants du Paradis_. The story is that of a courtesan named Garance who is pursued by four very different men throughout the course of the film. She eventually rejects all of them due to the fact that they attempt to force their love on her." She motioned toward Jane. "You may have heard of it, actually. It was released here in 1945 under the name _Children of Paradise_." She eyed Jane hopefully.

Jane knitted her brow and smiled awkwardly at Maura. "I must've, uh, missed that day in my French film theory course at community college."

Maura's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You took French film theory?"

Jane flattened her stare and said in a deadpan voice, "Community college, Maura. What do you think?" She sipped her red eye and arched her eyebrow.

Maura took a moment to answer, quirking her head as she studied Jane's expression. She replied, "You were being sarcastic, weren't you?"

Jane nodded and chuckled quietly. "Just a bit." She looked back out to the pond and took note of the time. "So you like classic movies; that's good." She stood up and held out her hand for Maura. "Come with me."

Maura took the proffered hand and stood up, moving toward Jane. "Where are we going?"

Jane intertwined their fingers and started walking to the other end of the park. She turned and smiled warmly at Maura. "You'll see."

Several minutes later, Maura spotted a large white screen set up several yards away at the bottom of a hill. She turned to Jane and smiled. "What's this?"

Jane guided them toward an oak tree off to the side on the hilltop. She let go of Maura's hand and sat down, leaning back against the tree. "I figure even though this isn't a date doesn't mean I can't take you to the movies." Jane watched as Maura settled down beside her against the tree, tucking her legs up underneath her. The sun had set completely now, and Maura's face was illuminated by the dim glow of the city lights on the horizon. Jane wanted to trace with her finger the line of light outlining her profile. "Hope you like_ The African Queen_. It's what's playing tonight."

Maura turned to her, enthusiasm shining behind her eyes. "I love anything with Katharine Hepburn. I had quite the crush on her when I was younger." She tilted her head in contemplation, tapping her chin once with her index finger. "I think it might have been her penchant for suits, as well as her no-nonsense personality. Also, those cheekbones." Maura hummed pleasantly. "Of course, Humphrey Bogart in this film isn't so bad either. He's such a rough-and-tumble gentleman throughout."

Jane laughed. "I think I would have strangled Rosie had I been Mr. Ornut." She took Maura's hand once more; her palm facing upward as Jane lightly massaged her hand. Maura didn't suppress the shiver that ran down her spine as Jane's thumb began drawing a spiral on her palm.

Maura felt goose bumps form at the base of her neck and spread down quickly across her arm. Jane didn't notice. Instead, she continued, moving her thumb up to brush over the soft underside of Maura's wrist and glanced over at the big screen as it lit up white against the night. "Destroying his boat for a country he's not from, for a woman he hardly knows? That's what he gets for being Canadian. Too accommodating."

Just as she turned her head to say something else, Jane felt a pair of soft lips press lightly against her own, and her words were lost. Maura felt Jane's hand still against her own as she pulled away, only to brush her lips teasingly over Jane's before coming in once more for a less tentative exploration.

Jane brought her hand up to cradle Maura's jaw, her thumb brushing over her cheekbone as she brought them closer, deepening the kiss for a moment, reveling in the nearly inaudible moan she elicited from Maura, before pulling back and brushing her nose against the other woman's. She kept her eyes closed and bit her bottom lip as she rested her forehead against Maura's.

Maura was the first to speak. She looked up at Jane, who was still cupping her jaw and idly running her thumb over her cheek. "I've been wanting to do that since I met you."

Jane chuckled, the sound full and rough in her chest. She pulled back and moved her hand into Maura's hair, tucking a stray lock behind her ear as she moved down her neck, following her hand with her eyes. She studied the gentle slope of Maura's neck and immediately wanted to feel the pulse underneath her lips. "I guess you've been waiting a while, huh? A whole…eight hours. I'm impressed." She smiled wolfishly as she brought her eyes up once more to meet Maura's.

Maura worried her lower lip as she raked her eyes up and down Jane's figure. "I would tell you what you did to me at the crime scene, knowing you were observing me, scrutinizing me." Maura leaned forward, her mouth just a whisper away from Jane's. She redirected her course, brushing her nose over Jane's cheekbone as she brought her lips to her ear. "I would tell you, but I feel as though that's more of a third date discussion."

She pulled away from Jane and began to settle back into the spot next to her. For a moment, Jane could only stare and smile as she watched Maura move back to her spot. A soft grunt passed her lips before she leaned forward and removed her jacket, spreading her legs and placing her blazer between them. Maura looked down at the jacket, then back to Jane. Jane tugged Maura's hand and said, "_African Queen's_ a long movie. Don't want you getting uncomfortable." She patted the blazer. "I'm way more comfortable than this old tree."

Maura smiled warmly at Jane and shook her head. "I couldn't ruin your blazer, Jane. That would be –"

"You're not going to ruin anything. It's black, and definitely cost way less than the skirt you're currently wearing." Jane reached forward and took Maura's hand. "Besides," She said, grinning rakishly, "I'd like to see this skirt on you again, and if any grass stains happen, then I'll never get that chance."

Maura laughed now, bringing her hand to her chest. "It's so good to know your intentions here are honorable, Detective." She stood up and cleaned her skirt and calves of the debris from the ground before stepping between Jane's legs and turning around.

As Maura bent over to sit between Jane's legs, Jane was given a brief but spectacular view of her ass. Jane grinned at Maura's back as she felt her grip her thighs to move in close against her chest, finally leaning back enough to rest her head in the crook of Jane's shoulder.

Jane smiled and wrapped her arms loosely around Maura's waist. She watched as Katharine Hepburn planted a rose bush over her brother's grave. "Dr. Isles, I am nothing if not honorable."

Maura placed her hands over Jane's and sighed, angling her head up just enough to brush the side of her nose against Jane's jaw. "This is absolutely counting as our first date."

Jane laughed throatily and held Maura tighter kissing the top of her head as the two watched Rosie and Charlie board The African Queen for the first time together.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Do you ever feel like you left some things unfinished, but you can't really go back and fix it, and so you just do the best with what you've got and hope no one notices? Well, that's what happened with this story. See, I wracked my brain for 2 weeks trying to figure out why I couldn't write chapter 3, and then I realized one night while I was hopping over rooftops and killing guards (AC: Brotherhood, guys; I'm not a freerunning killer (maybe) that I hadn't finished chapter 2, and so I couldn't write ch. 3. Instead of deleting and reuploading chapter 2 here, I just decided to post it as chapter 3 to avoid any confusion or questions that I don't feel like answering because I just answered all of them in my head just now. So really, this is just the rest of chapter 2, and if you're on the rizzoli-isles community on LJ, that's how it's going to read. But now that this hot mess is taken care of, I can move on to the REAL chapter 3, and I already have a clusterfuck of ideas running amok in my head.

That said, do please enjoy, and I hope to have the next installment out in a couple of weeks or so.

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><p>Jane ran her thumb lightly over Maura's knuckles as the two walked down the sidewalk to the edge of the park. She studied the woman walking beside her, felt the contrast of her hand intertwined with her own, and saw the smile playing wistfully at the corners of her mouth. Jane tilted her head and asked, "What are you thinking about?"<p>

Maura lifted her head and smiled warmly at Jane. "I was just thinking that this date, half-formed as it is, has turned out to be one of the most favorable romantic experiences I can recall having." Maura stopped them as they reached the park gate and turned to Jane, taking her other hand and pulling her closer. She tilted her head up and smiled. "I suppose I should figure out some way to thank you for such a wonderful time."

Jane grinned and raised her hand to brush a strand of hair away from Maura's face. "Don't thank me just yet, Doc. Since this is now a date – half-formed though it may be – it's not over yet. The night's still young, after all." Jane pulled away and tugged Maura's hand as she began walking once more, this time toward the precinct.

Maura followed beside her and glanced at her watch. "If you're planning dinner after this movie, I'm afraid we're running a bit late with no reservations."

Jane scoffed. "Who said anything about planning? Besides, we don't need a reservation where we're going."

"And where might that be?" Maura looked at Jane expectantly.

Jane smiled and shook her head. "That, Maura, is a surprise."

Maura brought herself closer to Jane, releasing her hand to loop her arm through Jane's. She rested her head on Jane's shoulder. "While I can't say this with absolute certainty, I feel as though I should prepare myself for a number of surprises where you're concerned."

Jane placed her hand over Maura's. "I can only hope that you tolerate me long enough to confirm that theory."

The two walked in companionable silence until they reached the parking lot where Jane's cruiser was parked. She released Maura's hand as she unlocked the passenger door and opened it for Maura. "Ignore the smell. Korsak runs a halfway house for strays out of the back seat."

Maura laughed and climbed inside, glancing up at Jane as she closed the door and walked quickly to the driver's side. Jane checked her watch before settling into the driver's seat and starting up the engine. "We should make it just under the wire for take out." She shifted the cruiser into gear and quickly backed out of the parking spot. She glanced over at Maura as she pulled out into the street. "Hope you like Thai."

"The next part of our date involves takeout?" Maura asked as she buckled her seatbelt and smiled, intrigued.

"More than takeout, but that's all you're getting from me until we get where we're going." Jane cocked a half-smile and looked at Maura as they pulled up to a red light. "You're just going to have to trust me."

Maura raised both of her eyebrows, letting out a small laugh. "I've known you for less than twenty-four hours, Jane. How can I be expected to trust you?"

Jane looked off in the distance for a moment, feigning deep thought. "Fair enough. How about this:" Jane's leaned in over the center console and brought her lips tantalizingly close to Maura's. Maura's eyes fluttered when she felt Jane's breath puff lightly over her lips. She could hear the smile in Jane's voice as she continued. "If anything bad happens to you, you can arrest me yourself."

The two women locked eyes, neither wanting to break the moment. Jane licked her lips and arched her eyebrow as she leaned in closer. Maura could feel Jane's lips ghosting over hers as she asked, "What do you say, Doc?"

Maura let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and closed the distance between them, crushing her lips against Jane's in a hungry, open-mouthed kiss that left neither woman in the dark about the effect they had on the other. Jane wove her hand through Maura's hair as she cradled the nape of her neck, keeping her close as the kiss continued, heated and unrelenting. Maura curled her fingers into Jane's shirt and tried to pull her over the console. She let out a loud moan when she felt Jane tug her hair, pulling them apart abruptly.

Jane felt her eyes go wide as she untangled her hand from Maura's hair and brought it to her cheek. She watched as Maura leaned lightly into her hand, eyes closed, her parted lips red and swollen from the forcefulness of their kiss. She arched her eyebrow and smirked lazily as she opened her eyes slowly, meeting Jane's deer-eyed stare. "I think you're more qualified to employ the use of handcuffs, Detective."

Jane opened her mouth to say something, but a loud horn cut her off. She looked up to see the light had turned green at some point during her preoccupation. She waved impatiently to the driver behind her and started along the street once more, glancing over at Maura, who almost pulled off looking as though Jane hadn't almost ravished her in the middle of Boston traffic in her police cruiser.

Jane's wasn't fooled, though. She was a detective for a reason, after all. She licked her lips as she noticed how Maura's skirt was hiked up from her sudden change in position; her blazer was just slightly askew. Jane noticed the mussed look of Maura's hair where her hand was wrapped up inside, and the flush across Maura's cheeks as she stared forward deliberately. Jane chuckled and shook her head as she turned on to the next street, mumbling half to herself, "Oh, I am in so much trouble."

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><p>Maura had seen some amazing things in her life; she'd seen decades-long tribal wars end right in front of her; she'd seen six of the seven wonders of the world; known tastes and sights and smells that most people couldn't even imagine. As she sat on a bench at the end of the Piers Park pavilion and stared out at the Boston city skyline, the wind in her hair and salty air in her lungs, she was certain that she was experiencing yet another amazing event in her life. Maura slipped off her shoes and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and laying her head down. She looked over at Jane who was currently finishing off her drunken noodles and smiled as she watched her.<p>

Jane focused on the last carrot plastered to the bottom of the cardboard takeout box, poking at it with her chopsticks as she attempted to unglue it. Her face brightened when she finally picked it up and brought it to her mouth. She looked over at Maura and shrugged defensively when she saw her staring. "What?" She put the box in the paper bag that carried their takeout. "I have a thing for carrots."

Maura laughed and raised her head. "I didn't say anything." She looked out over the harbor and sighed, a subdued smile on her face. "This place is gorgeous. You know, I probably never would have come here had you not shown me."

Jane placed the paper bag on the ground and moved in closer to Maura, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. The two of them sat there for several moments, enjoying the silence as they looked out over the skyline. "You might have made it out here eventually." Jane said as Maura rested her head on her shoulder. "It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun, though."

Maura chuckled and slapped Jane's stomach playfully. "You seem pretty confident."

Jane shrugged. "Someone has to be."

Maura smiled and unfolded herself, slipping her shoes back on her feet as she stood to walk to the railing at the end of the promenade. She felt Jane come up beside her and wrap an arm around her waist. "Are you sure we've only known each other for a day?"

Maura looked up at her when she asked the question. "Technically we've only known each other for eighteen hours and thirty-seven minutes."

Jane met Maura's eyes and raised an eyebrow and, deadpanning, said, "Really?"

Maura nodded, oblivious. "Yes."

Jane shook her head and smiled. "Not what I meant."

"Ah," Maura tilted her head toward Jane as she looked out over the bay once more. "You were referring to the fact that it feels as though we have known each other for a time longer than that allowed by the physical constraints of accepted spacetime theory."

Jane nodded and turned Maura to face her. "Something like that, yeah." She stepped closer and looked down at the woman in her arms. She smiled when she felt Maura's hand rest on the top of her chest and her fingers curl into her shirt. Neither woman made a move toward each other, content to stay swaying in each others' arms for the time being.

After a few moments, Jane started moving a bit more deliberately. Maura moved her hand up on to Jane's shoulder and swayed with her as she guided them into a slow, songless dance. "So tell me about yourself, Doctor Isles. It feels like we've known each other forever; might as well actually get to know one another."

Maura chuckled and studied the buttons on Jane's blue button-down. "What do you want to know?"

Jane looked up and shrugged as she thought. "Well, you can dance; you like Thai food and Katharine Hepburn…you can cut up dead people and keep yourself immaculate while processing a crime scene. Is there anything you can't do? Anything you don't enjoy?"

Maura thought for a moment before responding. "I can't sing. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy trying."

Jane grinned and rested her hand on Maura's hip, dipping her head down playfully. "You don't sing? Well," She let out a mock sigh of relief, "it's good to know you can't do everything."

"It's physically impossible for me to be able do everything, Jane. That would not only require massive computing power from my brain, but also evolutionary abilities not yet developed in humans."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "You mean to tell me you don't have wings hidden under that blouse, or some gills along your neck?"

Maura pressed a little more firmly into Jane, angling her head back to meet her eyes. "I can assure you I don't. However, if you don't believe me, you can always find out for yourself."

"I think I might wait to find out until after our second date." Jane ran her fingers lightly through Maura's hair as she continued to lead them slowly from side to side. "I'd like to at least _pretend_ to be a gentleman for a moment before I take you to bed."

"Who said anything about taking me to bed?" Maura smiled coyly as she held Jane's gaze. "There are a number of things you can do in order to confirm whether or not I have advanced evolutionary characteristics uncommon in humans, none of which require a bed. In fact," She moved her hand back to Jane's collar and pulled her close. "there are things you could do right here that would disprove the Gill Theory."

Jane brushed her nose against Maura's and guided her gently up against the railing behind them. She chuckled when Maura gasped, and brushed their lips together. Maura moved one hand into Jane's hair while the other rested on her hip. Jane pulled them closer as she deepened the kiss, maintaining the patient exploration she began.

She rested her hand in the dip of Maura's waist underneath her blazer, smiling to herself when she felt Maura inhale and press into her more forcefully. Jane brought her other hand up to cup her jaw before moving to thread her fingers through her hair. She pulled away from Maura and tugged her head gently to the side, running her lips across her jaw and nipping at the hollow point between her jaw and neck before trailing slowly down the expanse of silken skin underneath her.

She paused at Maura's collarbone, nuzzling the dip above her clavicle before scraping her teeth along the bone, eliciting a surprised moan from the pliant woman currently undergoing her tortuous ministrations. Jane kissed along the trail made by her teeth and moved back up to Maura's ear, exhaling lightly before speaking. "No gills here."

Maura's head lolled back as she felt Jane's graveled voice roll through her. She fought back a groan as she pulled away and cupped Jane's face with both of her hands, bringing their lips together once more, kissing her with languid fervor that nearly took her aback with the unexpected emotion behind it. Jane moaned when she felt Maura's tongue tease her own, pulling away only to change the angle before coming back for more.

She felt Maura's hands move from her face to her back, running down it until she hit her belt. Maura elicited another moan from her when Jane felt her nails dig into the small of her back. Jane gripped Maura's waist tightly with her hand and pushed her away abruptly, searching Maura's cloudy, confused eyes, her own full of need.

"We have to stop right now." Jane swallowed loudly, her lips parted as she fought to get her breathing under control.

Maura furrowed her brow, confused. "Why?"

Jane pulled her close once again, unable to maintain her distance now that she knew what Maura felt like against her. "If we don't stop, I'm going to put you up on this railing and do things to you that have no business being done in public, or on the first date."

Maura sighed and rested her head against Jane's shoulder, huffing. "Social protocol is sometimes highly overrated."

"Tell me about it." For a long moment, the two women remained close together, silent as they collected themselves. Jane brought her hand to the small of Maura's back and leaned back to meet her eyes. "What do you say we get out of here and head back to the precinct so you can pick up your car?"

Maura furrowed her brow once more. "So soon?"

Jane laughed. "We've been out here for almost two hours. It's getting pretty late, and unless you want to sleep on the bench, I'm thinking we both need to get to our respective beds if we're going to be worth anything tomorrow morning."

Maura sighed and nodded. "I suppose you're right." Her actions betrayed her words, however, and as she continued to hold Jane close against her, she saw the harbor view, felt the cool breeze playing off of the water, and allowed the beautiful woman in her arms to take over all of her senses. She wrapped her hand around the back of Jane's neck and rested her head on her shoulder, a sigh full of longing whispering out with her request, "Just one more dance."


End file.
